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Offsides

Saint Peter's Men's Soccer is beginning its 57th season in 2016 and sixth year under the direction of head coach Julian Richens. The Peacocks are opening up their season at home for the second straight year after hosting and defeating UMass 3-0 in the 2015 opener.

Series History

The Peacocks and the Pirates will meet for the 42nd time in history with Saint Peter's trailing Seton Hall in the all-time matchup at 11-26-4. The two teams last met in 2012, when the Peacocks edged the Pirates 3-1 in South Orange, NJ ending Saint Peter's four-game slump to Seton Hall. Seton Hall did defeat Saint Peter's 2-1 in an exhibition contest last season in South Orange.

Seton Hall Scouting Report

The Pirates posted a 0-15-1 record in 2015, including going 0-9-0 in the Big East and finishing 10th. The Pirates return four of their top six scorers from a season ago and bring back eight starters in total.

Looking Back at 2015

Saint Peter's ended the 2015 season with a 7-9-2 record overall and a 4-5-1 record in the MAAC. The seven wins were the most by the program under Richens, and best season by the team since 2010 when the Peacocks won 13 games and claimed a MAAC title.

Looking Forward to 2016

The Peacocks return 25 players from a year ago, with 19 of the returners having started in at least one game last season. Of the 25 returners, they accounted for 23 of the 24 goals scored in 2015 and bring back starting goalkeeper Jamie Cleland, who played every minute in goal last season for the Peacocks. Saint Peter's only loses two players from a year ago and add junior defenseman, Justin Bergman to the lineup.

Saint Peter's head on the road for a brief two-game road trip following Friday's contest. First the Peacocks will visit St. Johns on Wednesday, August 31 at 8 p.m. Then they travel to Massachusetts to take on UMass on Saturday September 3 at 3 p.m.

About the Coach

Julian Richens enters his sixth season in 2016 as the Head Men's Soccer Coach of the Peacocks. Richens enters the season coming off of a team-best seven wins with him at the helm in 2015, while the Peacocks advanced to the MAAC Tournament. Richens has coached one All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) first-team selection, five All-MAAC second-team honorees and one All-Rookie team selection in his tenure at Saint Peter's.